Friedel-crafts type catalyst complexes and their preparation



Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITE I- STATES Calfee, Manhasseh N. Y., assignors to S tan em" O men 7 Q mnu a come Mie 9 Delaware N Drawing; Q a app cation :N vembsrulfi,

19.43; Serial No; 510,499,; new Pate AMAMaQMQQ Jul 3, 946- .Diyidedan ppl at o Augu t 2 4igsria Ne- The present invention relates to the "preparae ti f metalhajl e' comp exes whickiih'ave be n found to be suitable for aiding in the. effecting of? or anic r actions' ch a f r example, the isomerization' of normal paraifins to isoparaflins, the alkylation' of isoparafii'ns with monoolefins, the polymerization of monoolefinathe cracking, ofreduced petroleumicrude oils, andthe nuclear alkylation of aromaticihydrocarbons with alliyl' halides; alcohols and/or rmonoolefins.

'This' is a division ofSeria1 ,No. 5 1Qf,490; f led November 16, 1943, now United States Letters PatentNo. 2,404A44; grantediJu1y,z3;.19fi:

-1\I eta1ha1ides of the Friedel-Craft's typel liayec been used in the past to induce ajnumbier off-re.- actions among which are those mentionedahoye. but. particularly in the case of the aluminum halides such as alumin m Q1i1oride.no,-completely at sfactory a al m ss a yet been d vis di Cont nuedlusaa .o 'alum hum c lorid ca alysts for efifec ih tlie i omeritat b ofnfinme parafifi s; t i po yme ization tielfi'ns; the alky action o oparafifihs wi h ol fi s; a t e like results in a decomposition of'the aluminum chloride to form liquid, highly arbonaceoussubg5.

nt V No.

stances which are less efii'acious ior cata yzing these reactions than the solid fresh aluminum* hloridey the liq f he and gr datib of alumi lim' chloride or aluminum bromide in carryingjout such reactions, commercial units .30

oftentimes are required to besliut down and the reactors and catalyst beds cleanedandrechargedi with fresh catalyst before proceeding with the reaction. This is often expensive and troublesome because of the character of the sludges.

formed with the aluminum' chloride. In addition; of course, the catalystlife ismaterially re duced due to this sludge formation and too frequently the catalyst must be replaced with fresh aluminum chloride or aluminum bromide-cata- 40 lyst" compositions, thereby resulting in an un economical. operation.

Attempts have beenmade incthe past .to.tim:-, prove aluminum chloride catalysts for. use in;

organic reactions, particularly hydrocarbon .;re,-

actions, by resorting to drastic reaction conditions and short contact times in order to minimize. this sludge formation, but theseiexpedients-a have not been particularly successful sinceiappree ciable cracking of the reactants occurred rather 5 0 than a minimizing of the s ludging-tendency: Furthermore; under certain reaction conditions which are particularljr conducive to catalyzing some" organic: reactions; such as the isomeriza tion of the' liiglier molecular weight straight chain -paraflins;" aluminumchloride --h'a=s been foundto be impractical "evenunder the ldest con-- ditions known} ;becausethe cracking tendency-of the aluminumchlbridappears--to be superior to" the isqmerizat ion tendency and hence-aluminum chloride is not particularly suitable for this ty'pe of reaction: Furthermore, a'luminumchloride and aluminum bromide ;-ha ve-- been' found to be relatively short-lived in their activityfor theprpmotiqn of hydrocarbon isomerizations and qon en afion It-"is an object of the present invention t0=pro ducefinovel catalyst masses which remain= active= for catalyzingporganic' reactions for a 1 far greater" length of time than-"hasheretoforebeen"found gossible using. the ordinary -'-1 ried el- (3raft"s ype meta lhalidecatalystsi It fis a further" object of h nven io .0 prp si e im lea co e ient m tkiqd Q the prep rati n m a wa Er ede -Crat t e cata s omp xe "whi h i e uitab f fcate yzin e:here e meni pe d oreenici ea tions AinptfierPbi Wof" h tinvem on s rovi a cat y t ama com ri i lumi mili iq emnl x s eh' a i o sl n ja to p duc a dihar excellen cata s ife? h iu dito catalyzet iher ior -mnt mied a i ,ieaciiqns: f- .l the bi q o the nve qn i t repare a um num hal e-5 invention areprepared inanumberof ways: One

- method of pr eparingtliese' catalysts resides intli'ej use of lower-falkoaymetal ha'lides" or 'lower" trialhoxy' metal lialides -being contacted and admixed with a nned-e1 -Gra1-ts* type catalyst of ll 1'16 metal halide type; followed by heat fusing of -the resultant-:adm'ixtureitoiaitempera-tureasufficientlw high .fjJO-.CQmp1et81'y|- fuse ithera massu Following:

fusion, the mass is kept at an elevated temperature of between about 80 C. and about 200 C. until the liquid is converted into a dry solid material and evolution of alkyl halide is essentially complete. A catalyst so prepared has been found to have the desired catalytic activities. A preferred method of preparing the catalyst mass, however, involves not only the heat fusing of the resultant admixture but a further heating to a slightly higher temperature for a length of time to allow for the removal by vaporization of any uncombined or free metal halide contained in the catalyst mass. The removal of the free halide may be accelerated by conducting thesublimation under reduced pressure. This method resulted in a catalyst complex which had even better catalytic activity than the first method of preparation. Still a third method of preparing the catalyst mass resides in the preparation of the metal halide alcohol addition complex in the presence of excess amounts of a Friedel-Crafts type metal halide, followed by heat fusion, formation of the alkoxy halide by splitting out hydrogen chloride, subsequent formation of active catalyst through elimination of the alkyl halide, and the removal of excess Friedel-Crafts type metal halide by heat. Such a method, for example, would involve the reaction of methyl alcohol in the amount of 1 mol with more than 1 mol of aluminum chloride. The preparation of alumi-- num methoxy halides may be carried out in an anhydrous carbon disulfide medium by adding alcohol to a refluxing mixture of carbon disulfide and the metal halide. The resultant aluminum methoxy compound may then be separated from the solvent and heated at a temperature of 80 C.200 C. in the presence of excess aluminum chloride to form a compound having an empirical formula of AlClzOCI-laAAlOCl.

Methoxy aluminum chloride may be mixed with aluminum bromide and the active catalyst formed by fusing the mixture and then maintaining it at a sufiiciently elevated temperature to cause essentially four-fifths of the methyl groups to be evolved as the methyl halide. The empirical composition of the catalyst following removal of all free aluminum halide is AlX2OCH3.AlOX where X may be chlorine or bromine, or both chlorine and bromine in the same molecule. further example of a particular catalyst prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention involved the reaction of AlClzOCHs with SbCl3 to give the thermal decomposition product of aluminum methoxy chloride chemically combined in part, at least, with an antimony halide, the antimony content falling between 0.1% by weight of the aluminum compound and that required for the compound AlClzOCHsASbOCl, depending upon the experimental conditions. It

7 is believed, based on experimental determinations,

that the empirical formula,-A1Cl2OCHs.4AlOC1, represents a close approximation of the true composition of the type of compounds produced but the invention should be understood as not being limited thereto but as being directed to the compounds produced by the reaction of Friedel-Crafts type metal halides with lower alkyl monohydric alcohols or with the lower alkoxy derivatives of metal halides in accordance with the methods herein outlined. In general, the admixtures of the reactants heretofore mentioned are heated at least to the fusion point and preferably they are heated to a temperature between about 80 C. and about 200 C. for a period of time sufficient to insure completion of the reaction-giving rise to the evolution of the alkyl halide. The um'eacted metal halide is removed by sublimation upon continued heating, preferably under reduced pressure. As will be seen fromthe data hereinafter set forth, active catalysts are produced by the decomposition of the metallic alkoxy halide in the presence of free'metallic halide and that it is preferable to remove any free or uncombined Friedel-Crafts type metal halide that may be contained therein. The Friedel-Crafts type metal halide may be employed in a substantial molar excess of the amount of lower alkyl monohydric alcohol or lower alkoxy metal halide used, but in such a case it is preferable to remove the excess or uncombined metal halide from the final catalyst complex prior to using the same for catalyzing the heretofore-mentioned organic reactions.

The resultant catalyst complexes appear as a porous, brittle mass, white to light yellow in color. They are non-volatile under the elevated temperatures customarily employed. If desired, the catalyst complexes may be prepared on a carrier such as activated alumina, partially dehydrated bauxite, activated carbon, silica gel, alumina gel and the like. Such a process involves the impregnation of the carrier mass with vapors of aluminum chloride or aluminum bromide or other suitable Friedel-Crafts type catalyst, followed by contacting of the impregnated mass with methyl or ethyl alcohol vapors or some other suitable lower alkyl monohydric alcohol into the carrier mass so impregnated. This mass is then gradually heated to a temperature between about 40 C. and 200 C., thereby forming the novel catalyst complexes within the carrier selected. A stream of superheated inert vapor such as hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and the like, may be passed through the carrier mass maintained at the desired temperature so that the mass is thereby freed of any free or uncombined metal halide contained therein.

An excellent method for preparing the catalyst on a suitable support consists of mixing the aluminum methoxide with the aluminum halide, fusing, and. before evolution of the alkyl halide commences, soaking the inert carrier in the melt..

The carrier may then be removed and the decomposition to form the catalyst conducted at the proper temperature.

The'catalysts so formed have been found to be particularly effective in catalyzing the isomerization of normal parafiins to isoparaflins as will be more fully hereinafter described. Although, as has been stated heretofore, it is preferred to use the novel catalyst complexes substantially free of uncombined Frieoel-Crafts type metal halide, and, as has previously been stated, some free and uncombined Friedel-Crai'ts type metal halide catalyst may remain in admixture with the final catalyst complex, it is within the contemplation of -the present inventoin to add further amounts of Friedel-Crafts type catalyst to the resultant catalyst mass and to employ such admixtures as catalysts where the activity of the final catalyst composition demands that a more active catalyst be employed. In general, the novel catalyst complexes herein described may be prepared by admixing a compound having the formula the formula M'Xn 2 s whereinz llerepresentssa lowerriemupan e erablyimethyhon-ethyla-M 'imatileastioneofathecompoundsrrepresentmametal whosezhalide .i'sea.Eriedel:Grafts;typematalysMMandxM may oiii'tlies tables are; inserted? merelyzfor. comparative purposes. These catalysts; were. -CP' grade-r of aluminum chloride :and; aluminum; bromide, :-respectively, The; decomposition temperature be: the;same .-or.:ai:diiierent;meta1).;.XJepresents .5 stated is that temperature to which the reaction a halogenisuchras fon example mhlorineiorcbror mass washeatedpin order to..:eliminate.-the. allrvl mine; isaan .integeml, .2121; 3, whileiz represents halide:asz formed.initheprocesszofp reaction. The '3;- :y, and. represents am integer; ofi-o tor-r less. resultant catalyst-ineach-instance; in-the amount Specific compounds contemplated as thezinitial. indicatedingrams;.was-zcontacted.atiroomrtema reactant in preparing-mandrel catalyst com- 10 perature; under-ran;atmosphereof' dry hydrogen plexesareasfollows: chloride; with liquid normal 'heptan-e: in. the C H amountsindicatedfand theadmixture agitatedwfor the; specified: number of. hours. The liquid was i theniseparatedifrom: thesolid catalyst complex AlClBrOCHa Al-(KK'JaHsJz:v I Alena-3H3 sbchocHz 15 and distilled in a distillation column. packed AIBMQGHBM .sbBmoCH: with a glass spiral wrapped on a solid glass rod. c g lsmocmh The fractionating power of" the column used was considered to...- be equivalent toabout 7 and the like. n theoretical plates. The;.distillate was measured COmPOI-mdS representative the claS S M 29 by volume. and -onfractionation the distillate iy e employedfln acc rdance m hz h was collected-inia graduated receiver. The per.- p e of h pres nt invention are-those-rcus centagezofrproduct hoilingbetween 809 C. and-9:3 tomarily identified. as. the -FrledeleCrafts type C. was ameasure-ot the amountiof thebranched metal halides. These a e, for example, chain heptanes produced in. therisomerization A1C1 311511;. 25' reaction; The-catalystmixture 'in Run N0. 4, A1Br3 ick althoughbeing heated at 150 (3;, was'heatedfor AlClBrz ZllCh. a 'sufiicient length of time to decompose the mass AlClzBr. U014. but not to remove from the: mixture the free SbCla AsCla metal halide containedi therein. ".The. catalyst ZnClz 30 was prepared at. 150 Ciandithen cooled. immean-dflm 11 dia'tely .to, room. temperature.

Table tcamlystkmepamtion Isomerizatiiiiiili gtflg-sgeptgngfagrg ogiitemperature Decomppsi ;7 Free:- 1 Agitationand Distillate-,- Reactants EmployedinPiepanon. Metal; Catalyst, Neheptana vReact-ion USO-939.0".

ing Catalyst, Molar Ratios Tempera-- Halide *Grams co. 'Oontactlime" Vol.

ture,0. Removed =Hours: 'Bencenztr A101,. 10 29. 11 11.5 AlBr OCHH-AIBn 160 No s 22.0 2.5 5.5 Aio1,oo11,+A1Br, 160 No 20.0 2.5 5.5 .u(00 H +4. (Fused) 150 No 5 20 7.5 7.0 3OH;0H+3AlCl;+AlBr; 110 No 30 is 14.0 +3.1. n... 200 Yes 5 7 21.0 AlCliOCH|+SbCl; 180 Yes 1.1 20 s 22.5 AlOhOCHH-SbBn". 180 Yes. 5 20 19 31.0 AlBr OCH -i-AIBH 160 Yes..-.. 5 15 2.5 34.5 AlBn" 22 1s 2 10. 0 AlOhOCH2+AlBn 160 Yes-.- 7 18 35.0 cmoH+2A1Bn 180 Yes..... 6.8 30 18 41.5

As previously pointed out, still a further modification involves the reaction of a lower alkyl monohydric alcohol such as methyl alcohol,

ethyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol,

wherein the characters have the same designation as previously stated.

The following examples, the data of which are presented in the accompanying table, are illustrative of the character of the invention. It is not intended, however, that the invention be limited thereto.

Having now fully described and illustrated the character of the invention, what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A process for preparing a metallo-organic halide complex useful for promoting organic reactions which comprises condensing 1 mol of an alkoxy metal halide with from 1 to 4 mols of a metal halide at a temperature of C. to 200 C., the halides of the metal constituents in these condensation reactants being Friedel-Crafts type catalysts and the alkoxy groups in said alkoxy metal halide containing 1 to 3 carbon atoms in each of their alkyl radicals, removing alkyl halide vapor evolved from the resulting condensation reaction mixture which is maintained as a fused mass at a temperature between 80 C. and 200 C. until a solid condensation product is obtained, said solid condensation product being a complex of said alkoxy metal halide combined with an oxy halide of the metal constituent in said metal halide.

Runs Nos. 1 and 10 reported on lines 1 and 10 15 2. The process as described in claim 1, in which an excess of said metal halide is present with the solid condensation product.

3. The process as described in claim 1, in which said alkoxy metal halide is methoxy aluminum chloride.

4. A new composition of matter useful in pro moting isomerization reactions and having a solid porous structure consisting of a condensation product of an alkoxy derivative of a metal halide of the Friedel-Crafts type with an excess of a metal halide of the Frledel-Crafts type, said condensation product being fused until it is a. dry solid and free of excess metal halide, whereby there is obtained a product of the empirical formula:

M(X) nl OR.m(MOX) wherein M represents a metal whose halide is a Friedel-Crafts type catalyst; X is a halogen selected from the group consisting of chlorine and bromine; n is an integer representing the valence of M; is oxygen; R is an alkyl radical containing from 1 m3 carbon atoms; and m is a value from 1 to 4.

5. A new composition of matter useful in pro moting isomerization reactions and having a solid, porous structure consisting of a condensation product of an alkoxy derivative of an aluminum halide with an excess of a metal halide of the Friedel-Crafts type, said condensation product being fused until it is a dry solidarid free of excess metal halide, whereby there is obtained a product of the empirical formula:

Al(X)2OR- (MOX) wherein X is a halide of the class consisting of chlorine and bromine; 0 represents oxygen; R

is an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 3 carbon atoms and M is a metal whose halide is a Friedel-Crafts catalyst.

- '6JiA' new composition of matter useful in prowherein R is an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 3 carbon atoms.

7. A product as defined in claim 6 wherein R represents a methyl radical.

CHARLES A. KRAUS. JOHN D. CALFEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file-of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date 1,793,935 Kaufter et al. Feb. 24, 1931 2,052,889 Loder et al. Sept. 1, 1936 2,125,961 Shoemaker et al. Aug. 9, 1938 2,270,292 Grasse Jan. 20, 1942 OTHER REFERENCES Child et al.: J. A. C. 3., vol. 47,1 11. 798-807 (1925).

Betsi: "Academy of Athens, record of proceedings, vol. 6, pp. 148-153 (1931).

Funk et al.: Zert. Anorg. Allgem. Chem., vol.

Norris et al.: J. A. C. 8., vol. 61, pp. 1413-1417 (1939). 

